Information Request Policies & Fees

Kentucky History DepartmentPolicy, Procedures and Fees for Research/Photograph/Photocopy Requests

Procedure for Requesting Further Information, Copies, etc.

Fees:

If you do not have a library card with us, and do not live in the area or are unable to visit our facility, we do answer basic inquiries on an “as-received” basis for a fee. Fees range from $5-$20+, depending on the amount of detail provided by the patron as well as the amount of staff time required to complete the request. Please note: applicable fees are nonrefundable and will be accessed even for records which are searched and not found. Please do not prepay or send cash. Billing statements will be mailed along with any available copies, records, etc. Payments should be submitted in the form of check or money order and made payable to the Kenton County Public Library.
Submitting Requests:

When submitting inquiries for further information, we ask that you include as much information as possible (full names, dates, etc.). Doing so enables us to keep fees at a reasonable level while also expediting our research and ensuring your timely receipt of requested items. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the previously detailed online indexes and resources to determine if the materials you are seeking are included within our holdings as well as to identify specific records, newspaper articles, photographs, etc., you would like to request. Using the relevant citation listings, record numbers, digital image numbers (for photographs) etc., researchers may then forward requests for copies, in writing, to our Kentucky History Department using one of four different methods:

For newspaper articles, church records, death certificates and miscellaneous documents:

1). Requests may be submitted via the “Request Information” template, available on our website request form.

(Additional questions or inquiries regarding photographs should be directed to the followingemail address: genphotos@kentonlibrary.org.

When submitting requests via any of these methods, please be sure to include your full name and mailing address so that we may forward any copies and/or relevant information, along with a billing statement, to the appropriate address. Due to the large volume of inquiries we receive, we ask that researchers limit their requests to no more than ten (10) items per inquiry. Please allow up tothirty(30) days for a response to your inquiry.Please note:

As previously mentioned, due to the extremely high volume of requests received, as well as the limited amount of staff time and availability to process these requests, our department is not able to conduct extensive genealogical research, comply with excessive photocopying requests, or implement exhaustive searches of non-indexed resources, online census records, etc. Researchers may need to contract the services of a paid, professional genealogist for in-depth requests.

Some examples of reasonable requests include:

“Please check the 1916 city directory for listings under the last name Rolf.”

“Please provide a copy of the death certificate for Bill Watkins who died in Kentucky on February 21, 1929.”

“Please check for a baptismal record for my grandmother, Ida Schmitt, who was born in May, 1920 and whose parents, Catherine and Irvin Schmitt, belonged to Mother of God parish in Covington?”

Some examples of requests we will not be able to accommodate include:

“Please send copies of everything you have on the Wilson family in Northern Kentucky.”

“Please search all Kentucky census records for the names Wilson, Reed, and Waters.”

“Please search for an obituary for my aunt Rose Wilkins, who died sometime between 1940 and 1946, possibly in Kentucky.”

“Can you check your collection for any birth records/information on my great-great aunt, Grace Miller, who I think may have been born somewhere in Kentucky around 1848?”